a "user" perspective on error messages
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there were some threads a couple of days ago about error messages, user interface design, and what you should and should not tell the user. i read all of that with great interest, and then as fate would have it i lived through a similar experience. for our database needs we are moving from Mysql 4.x over to Mysql 5.x (please dont bother telling me how good or bad this is, it is totally out of my paws) - which has the unfortunate side effect that i can no longer use mysql control centre to connect to the databases :(( this program is not all thar attractive to look at, and has some unhelpful quirks, but it does everything we ever wanted from a SQL interfact program! unfortunately it does not work well with Mysql 5.x, so we have had to look for a replacement. on one paw we have mysql query browser - looks nice but does very little :doh: on another paw we have mysql font - claims to do everything i could ever want, and has a lot more features than query browser on the surface there is no contest, it has to be mysql front. except that it has one small quirk... at random points while using it i get error messages, informing me about assertion failiars, or memory addresses cannot be read, or some totally unknown error reported in a language i do not read (i am guessing German). press OK, the error goes away and the program keeps on working just fine :~ normally these sort of errors mean the program is about to die horribly on me, not good when i am in the middle of studying some databases. this happened 3 or 4 times in the first couple of hours, and really put me right off. in contrast i have never seen such an error from query broweser, but earlier today i noticed that there was an earily similar error message in the status bar. it had probably been there for hours, it had no impact on me, i never even noticed, and the program just kept on working. there was even some strange grey "C" icon next to the error message. prodding it out of vague interest it made the error statement go away. i suspect the errors have more to do with our network than the programs or the servers i was connecting to, but at one level that is irrelivent. i am faced with a simple choice, do i do important work in a program that keeps on sticking error messages about memory faults in my face, or do i try and squeeze some power out of a program that reports errors so quietly i never even noticed? well i am now off to read the deeply exciting :rolleyes: help files for query browser, having followed the us
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there were some threads a couple of days ago about error messages, user interface design, and what you should and should not tell the user. i read all of that with great interest, and then as fate would have it i lived through a similar experience. for our database needs we are moving from Mysql 4.x over to Mysql 5.x (please dont bother telling me how good or bad this is, it is totally out of my paws) - which has the unfortunate side effect that i can no longer use mysql control centre to connect to the databases :(( this program is not all thar attractive to look at, and has some unhelpful quirks, but it does everything we ever wanted from a SQL interfact program! unfortunately it does not work well with Mysql 5.x, so we have had to look for a replacement. on one paw we have mysql query browser - looks nice but does very little :doh: on another paw we have mysql font - claims to do everything i could ever want, and has a lot more features than query browser on the surface there is no contest, it has to be mysql front. except that it has one small quirk... at random points while using it i get error messages, informing me about assertion failiars, or memory addresses cannot be read, or some totally unknown error reported in a language i do not read (i am guessing German). press OK, the error goes away and the program keeps on working just fine :~ normally these sort of errors mean the program is about to die horribly on me, not good when i am in the middle of studying some databases. this happened 3 or 4 times in the first couple of hours, and really put me right off. in contrast i have never seen such an error from query broweser, but earlier today i noticed that there was an earily similar error message in the status bar. it had probably been there for hours, it had no impact on me, i never even noticed, and the program just kept on working. there was even some strange grey "C" icon next to the error message. prodding it out of vague interest it made the error statement go away. i suspect the errors have more to do with our network than the programs or the servers i was connecting to, but at one level that is irrelivent. i am faced with a simple choice, do i do important work in a program that keeps on sticking error messages about memory faults in my face, or do i try and squeeze some power out of a program that reports errors so quietly i never even noticed? well i am now off to read the deeply exciting :rolleyes: help files for query browser, having followed the us
I have to concede that not all open source is horribly bad now that I've discovered Firebird[^] Seriously though, not to hijack your thread or anything but mysql are the same guys that wanted us to pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars just to use their ado.net driver in our app so we could have the fine privilege of merely offering our end users the possibility of using their own mysql server if they wanted to. I've been hearing a lot of buzz lately from commercial developers that were initially interested in supporting MySQL with their app but got treated like dirt. The only open source mysql AB were interested in when it comes to a sniff of money from commercial developers is an open source of cash. All this for a clearly inferior product... I don't know where they get the balls. At least with Microsoft you know the cost and you can get an answer when you email them. Sorry again for the hijacking and I commiserate with your dillema and understand you sometimes have to deal with the hand you're dealt but to anyone with a choice in the matter I highly recommend Firebird. If you're used to working with real commercial database servers it's the next best thing.
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I have to concede that not all open source is horribly bad now that I've discovered Firebird[^] Seriously though, not to hijack your thread or anything but mysql are the same guys that wanted us to pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars just to use their ado.net driver in our app so we could have the fine privilege of merely offering our end users the possibility of using their own mysql server if they wanted to. I've been hearing a lot of buzz lately from commercial developers that were initially interested in supporting MySQL with their app but got treated like dirt. The only open source mysql AB were interested in when it comes to a sniff of money from commercial developers is an open source of cash. All this for a clearly inferior product... I don't know where they get the balls. At least with Microsoft you know the cost and you can get an answer when you email them. Sorry again for the hijacking and I commiserate with your dillema and understand you sometimes have to deal with the hand you're dealt but to anyone with a choice in the matter I highly recommend Firebird. If you're used to working with real commercial database servers it's the next best thing.
John Cardinal wrote:
I highly recommend Firebird
I agree with John. Firebird is a very nice database. Seems to perform well for me and has a small memory footprint when running. There is a good article on it in Dr. Dobb's Journal. I think it was December 2004 issue, I could be wrong. Paul
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there were some threads a couple of days ago about error messages, user interface design, and what you should and should not tell the user. i read all of that with great interest, and then as fate would have it i lived through a similar experience. for our database needs we are moving from Mysql 4.x over to Mysql 5.x (please dont bother telling me how good or bad this is, it is totally out of my paws) - which has the unfortunate side effect that i can no longer use mysql control centre to connect to the databases :(( this program is not all thar attractive to look at, and has some unhelpful quirks, but it does everything we ever wanted from a SQL interfact program! unfortunately it does not work well with Mysql 5.x, so we have had to look for a replacement. on one paw we have mysql query browser - looks nice but does very little :doh: on another paw we have mysql font - claims to do everything i could ever want, and has a lot more features than query browser on the surface there is no contest, it has to be mysql front. except that it has one small quirk... at random points while using it i get error messages, informing me about assertion failiars, or memory addresses cannot be read, or some totally unknown error reported in a language i do not read (i am guessing German). press OK, the error goes away and the program keeps on working just fine :~ normally these sort of errors mean the program is about to die horribly on me, not good when i am in the middle of studying some databases. this happened 3 or 4 times in the first couple of hours, and really put me right off. in contrast i have never seen such an error from query broweser, but earlier today i noticed that there was an earily similar error message in the status bar. it had probably been there for hours, it had no impact on me, i never even noticed, and the program just kept on working. there was even some strange grey "C" icon next to the error message. prodding it out of vague interest it made the error statement go away. i suspect the errors have more to do with our network than the programs or the servers i was connecting to, but at one level that is irrelivent. i am faced with a simple choice, do i do important work in a program that keeps on sticking error messages about memory faults in my face, or do i try and squeeze some power out of a program that reports errors so quietly i never even noticed? well i am now off to read the deeply exciting :rolleyes: help files for query browser, having followed the us
why don't you use a real RDMBS that's proven. (sql server xpress, postgress, sybase, etc...)
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why don't you use a real RDMBS that's proven. (sql server xpress, postgress, sybase, etc...)
If we only used 'real' applications that have been 'proven', we wouldn't be writing these comments. Come to think of it, we wouldn't even be able to see them on a screen! Batch is best! Back to cards! No, better yet, peg boards! To live is to expand one's horizons, including as yet unproven commodities, food groups, languages and applications. Tim:laugh: